Author's note:
This I wrote purely for pleasure, decided to post on the off-chance
it might entertain someone else, too. I know it's not a popular
pairing, doesn't quite make sense with the plots the writers of the
show set up, blah, blah, blah…But I'm just playing here, so give
me a break! Anyway, this is sort of…well, is a sequel to Awakenings
(but you don't have to read the earlier fic to know what's going
on).

CRAVINGS

Cameron Mitchell had
been true to his word.

Vala had found herself
for want of nothing since she had moved into his apartment a few
months into her pregnancy. That had been three weeks ago, and she
felt spoiled beyond reason. Everything she had asked of him, he had
provided, and for the most part without qualm or quibble. But there
was one thing Vala wanted that she hadn't gotten.

But she hadn't
exactly asked, either…

Cameron stirred. She
knew he was awake, but she pretended that she wasn't. Spying on him
had become a tradition for her. Even though she had been living with
him, upon his sincere request, Vala was fairly certain that she still
wasn't really seeing him, the real him. He was always doing things
for her, pandering to her. It was like he was putting himself on
hold, not that she didn't appreciate the pampering. She was just
feeling a little guilty about it, and insanely curious, almost
desperate, to really know him, the father of her unborn child.

So, she waited to see
what he would do, to catch a glimpse of him with his guard down. He
wouldn't wake her, since there was no rush to be anywhere. He'd
just do whatever he'd do if she wasn't there. Those were her
favourite moments; observing the creature in his natural habitat. And
just to make it more interesting this morning, she had made sure she
was still cuddled up snuggly to him, just to see what he'd do. The
ploy made her feel slightly guilty, knowing that he had barely gotten
used to sleeping in the same bed as her (supposedly, she was a
flailer, which she wasn't sure of…although she had woken up in
the middle of the bed in a tangle of sheets to find Cam on the floor
with a lonely pillow on several occasions.) but it was just too much
fun to resist.

Allowing himself a few
minutes to lay in serene, undisturbed silence, Cam considered the
situation. He was awake. He hated lying in bed awake, especially in
the morning, when it was time to get up and do something, anything,
besides lay there. But waking Vala didn't seem like all that
pleasant a prospect. And given how tightly she was intertwined around
him, his getting up would assure her arousal from sleep. He wasn't
sure whether she was a morning person or not under normal
circumstances, but the hormones had seemed to make her mercurial at
best. If he accidentally woke her, she might murder him. Then again,
she could be fine, cheerful even. He attempted to calculate the odds
and failed.

Why had he ever agreed
to this? Having her move in was perfectly acceptable. In fact he had
wanted her there, had wanted to be part of the pregnancy (more than
he already apparently had been). But sleeping in the same bed? He
knew it was a bad idea from the beginning. That's why he had given
her his room, and settled on taking the couch. Well, he had done that
in order to obviate the awkwardness between people who had had sex
but didn't quite remember it (or were too embarrassed to try) who
suddenly found themselves in an intimate sort of situation again. The
awkwardness that had arisen was of rather a different nature.

He should've said
'no.'

But he hadn't. And he
didn't see how he could have refused her. She had spoken his name
so softly, had looked so sad and lonely, pawing at the ground with
her toe and averting her eyes as she related her request that he
sleep beside her. The next day when he had to report in to duty
absolutely exhausted, he knew it hadn't been a wise decision. But
seeing how refreshed and happy she was over the same night's sleep
that had been tumultuous to him killed any notion Cam had possessed
about the superiorly blissful rest of couch cushions.

Needless to say, it
hadn't been easy finding their sleeping groove. He thought they had
just settled into it, too, and then he woke up to find her on top of
him again. Maybe it was unwise to risk waking her, but simply lying
there was driving him insane despite the pleasantness of a
momentarily serene and silent Vala.

Managing to slip out of
bed and Vala's surprisingly vice-like grip around his neck, Cam
breathed a sigh of relief as he stretched then headed to the
bathroom.

Vala smirked as she
rolled over, after taking in the sight of Cameron stretching like a
large, feral beast. It was probably something she shouldn't admit,
but she so enjoyed watching him, taking particular interest in the
way his muscles tensed and rippled under his clothing. And he had
shut the door behind him. Plunging her face into a pillow, she
muffled a giggle. She was pregnant with his child and he was too
embarrassed to pee in front of her, even when he thought she was
asleep.

He won't be pee
shy after I have my way with him!

The thought startled
Vala and she hastily shoved it aside. Really, she shouldn't be that
surprised. She had been suppressing some urges for a while, a long
while…it had been such a long while. Okay, really not that
long, but it felt like it when the heat and need crept up on her,
more like pounced on her and left her reeling. It must be the
hormones. At least, it was easier to blame the hormones, the
growing child inside her, wreaking havoc upon her body.

Speaking of,

"I'm starving,"
she moaned overdramatically as Cam came out of the bathroom and she
propped herself up on her elbow to face him and pout. He crouched
down, folding his arms on the edge of the bed, making himself
eye-level with her.

"How do you feel
about pancakes?" he asked her, dispensing with pleasantries he knew
he'd never coax out of her if she wasn't in the mood. He had
learned his lesson with the "good morning…what the hell is
so good about it, I feel like I'm going to vomit all of my
internal organs out" tirade.

"Mm…perfect,"
Vala cooed, shifting to lie on her back, her hand absently moving in
wide circles over her minutely pregnant belly. She had just barely
begun to show. "With blueberries?" she added timidly, as if he'd
refuse her.

"Blueberries?" he
repeated, a smile creeping up on his somewhat tired-looking face.
"Now we're talking breakfast."

But blueberry pancakes
were sweet, very sweet. She needed something salty, too. Flipping
back onto her side to face him, she eagerly made a further request,
"And bacon?"

"Bacon? Sure," he
affirmed, smiling widely as he observed the process of Vala forming
her pregnancy-influenced order for breakfast. This one was turning
out rather normal, so far… The worst had been last week, when she
discovered a taste for, more like obsession with, sardines. There
were still five or so tins stacked in the cupboard.

"Oh! And eggs!" she
called after him as he made for the kitchen. His head popped back in
around the door.

"What kind?" he
asked. She genuinely smiled her most jubilant smile at him, knowing
that he was putting up with so much when she could remember numerous
times in the past where he barely tolerated her and she hadn't been
putting such demands upon him. Before this was through, she would
surely drive the poor man mad.

"Fried!" she
announced. The thought of greasy and runny eggs suddenly made her
feel queasy. "No! Wait. Scrambled!"

She winced along with
him, knowing the cause. Fifteen minutes into the day and she had
already given him a headache. Vala let herself feel guilty for a
moment until a sudden wave of feeling like the universe was pressing
in on her reminded her exactly why he was answering her every beck
and call. They had accidentally conceived a child. And she was the
one who had to carry it, nourish and protect it until it was born and
equal responsibility for it could be taken by them both. Until then,
the least he could do was take care of her!

"Anything else you
want?" he asked sarcastically, giving in to the exasperation of
waiting on the woman hand and foot.

You!

"Nope," Vala said
in what she hoped was a pleasant manner, pushing aside the outspoken
voice in her head that insisted she jump the poor abused man. "That
would be perfect. Thank you."

He gave her a
scrutinizing look before he disappeared from sight to fulfill her
wishes. Perhaps, she had been too polite. Did he know she was hiding
something, namely a ravenous beast inside her that wanted to use him
as its plaything? Nah! He couldn't possibly know the
thoughts that had slowly been growing in persistence and strength,
the fantasies that thrived in her dreams…

A/N: There will
probably be more if the mood strikes me :-)

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